


Snapshots

by Feelysonheelys



Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Friendly Enemies, Gen, Nonbinary Robot Character, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 23:16:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17130560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feelysonheelys/pseuds/Feelysonheelys
Summary: Let’s focus on the camera for a second, shall we?A few glimpses of what it’s like to be Cambot.





	1. Focus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LunaMoth116](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaMoth116/gifts).



> Written to fill LunaMoth116’s request: 
> 
> ‘Let’s focus on Cambot! *rimshot* Is Cambot more in league with the Mads than we ever realized? (Joel Hodgson once pointed out in a Kickstarter update that given how integral Cambot was to their plot, maybe that’s where Cambot’s alliance lay.) Or, how’s this “normal life on Earth” supposed to work when you have no limbs, everyone carries a cell phone camera in their pocket, and you can’t even speak?’

  
Most of the time, Cambot didn’t really get what all the fuss was about.

They were very well aware that out of the whole family, they were the least humanoid, even if that wasn’t quite the right word for it. Servo, Crow, and Gypsum all had distinct features that could be recognized and anthropomorphised. Cambot did not have such features, but was often puzzled when others would ask if they envied them.

Why would they, really? Sure, they didn’t talk. But nobody else could project, or play music, or transmit their memories to be processed into broadcasting material. They didn’t walk, but neither did Servo and Gypsum, and they all had their own ways of getting around.

Cambot liked being Cambot. They didn’t have anyone who could truly relate to them, but they were one of a kind and lived with people who loved them for that.

They were aware that the humans never completely understood. Joel, Jonah, even Mike had asked on more than one occasion if Cambot wanted to be upgraded, and expressed surprise when all that they requested was some cosmetic changes.

There was one thing that they secretly desired, however. Cambot appreciated their function as a camera with such broad storage, they really did…

“Come on, Cambot. Don’t be such a baby about it. We’ve all accidentally walked in on Mike showering at one point.”

But God, it would be nice if they could forget things once in a while.


	2. La La La

  
The Forrester family was evil. This was a fact.

Kinga Forrester had abducted Cambot and their family, tearing them away from their lives on Earth and treating them as variables in a sick media experiment. She was a villain through and through.

She was also, bar none, the _coolest_ person Cambot had ever met.

Honestly, it was refreshing to hold a conversation with someone about the ins and outs of physical film and media production. True, Cambot wasn’t one for verbal communication, but that was no obstacle, considering how Kinga loved to talk about her work, and Cambot was accustomed to being a good listener, responding with occasional gestures and projected clips to explain or prove a point.

“No, I agree, there’s so much that’s lost with having media be purely digital!” Kinga set down her coffee mug. “It just feels so authentic to have something to hold, something that can be preserved as film history. I mean, god, how boring would it be if I had to flourish and go ‘send them the movie!’ And then just send you a video file?”

Cambot bobbed their lens, projecting a clip of Kinga telling Max to ‘push the button’ on the adjacent wall.

“Exactly!” Kinga threw a hand in the air. “It would throw off the whole thing! Like, call me old-fashioned, but I’m not going to move the button-press to the beginning, it would throw the whole thing off. That’s the whole purpose of Kingachrome, really. It’s like using traditional film and modern media streaming at the same time. It’s even got a lot of silver nitrate in the formula to bring the point home.”

Cambot whirred our a message that made Kings snort into her coffee.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe I never thought about that. I guess you do have to process the liquid in recording, but really? It tastes good? What does film normally taste like to you?”

Cambot projected a series of clips from the show’s opening over the years. Kinga was beside herself with laughter.

“Holy shit,” she wiped away a tear. “All these years, and I never would have— _We’ll send him cheesy movies_. That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Kinga!” Max called, rushing through the doorway. “What’s going on? Did I hear actual, genuine laughter?”

“Get out.”

“Will do!”

In the whole scheme of things, Cambot taking the tube down to the moon for the occasional chat over a cup of coffee wasn’t too big a deal.

Besides, whenever anyone brought it up, Cambot would helpfully display any one of a number of clips he had at ready of Mike and Crow being chummy with Pearl. If there was one benefit to being a living camera, it was the ability to make blackmail a breeze. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last year my mom bought me an 8 week session of weekly improv classes, since she thought I’d appreciate an experience more than a gift. I thought about how a gift like that would apply to certain characters, and thought a film workshop might be a good gift.

The museum employee blinked. “I’m… I’m very sorry, let me see if I’ve got this right. So you’d like to pay for the eight week session of the Film History class as a gift to your sister—“

“Sibling.”

“Oh! So sorry. I’ve got a friend with a similar name who uses she/her, so it threw me off.”

“A similar name to _Cambot_?”

“Well, I mean— um. Anyway. So you’ll be paying for Cambot’s classes as a holiday gift. We get that all the time, so that’s not the hard part, we’ll just have their name on the registry instead of yours. But I’m not sure I’m understanding the second part of your request.”

“Look,” Crow pinched the bridge of his beak. “All I want to know is if I have to pay to take the class too, because while I’m a good brother, I’m not _that_ good.”

“You listed yourself as your sibling’s… service animal?”

Crow bobbed his head. “The courts are still iffy on whether I’m a person or not, so I thought I’d settle in the middle.”

The employee shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t follow.”

“Look, the little squirt’s got limited mobility,” Crow rolled his eyes. “They don’t get out much, but they also can’t really use any traditional mobility aids aside from the rails we installed in the house last year. I figured I could be their study buddy or just text the whole class while helping them out and carrying them and all that. But since I’m not going to pay attention or learn anything, I don’t think I should have to pay for two students.”

“That really doesn’t explain—“

“I know, I know. Listen. I don’t know how the whole application process would go to be an official aid or whatever, and that sounds like a lot of commitment. But I did pass an online course.”

“For being a service dog.”

“You can find _anything_ online these days. Like I said, the law doesn’t know what to do with me.”

The employee smiled. “I’ll see what we can do and keep you updated.”

“Yeah, well, don’t jump through too many hoops,” Crow stretched his arms. “If Cambot knows what kind of trouble I’m going to for their dumb Christmas present, the whole family is going to start thinking I care about them or something.” 


End file.
